Neal Schon says he's thrilled to be getting in touch with his improvisational roots on guitar at the helm of a group that also features former Journey members Gregg Rolie on keyboards and vocals and Deen Castronovo on drums and vocals.

"We're becoming a nuclear jam band," he says. "It’s like the Dead on steroids. We’re jamming a lot. And I really tested the audience the other night in Oakland. We had nearly 3,000 people there. And it looked like a very mixed audience. So we went way outside. I told the guys during soundcheck, 'Let’s trip it out.'"

He was playing "Miles Davis-type trumpet on guitar," he says, over a bass groove from Davis' "Jack Johnson" album. "And I stayed there," he says with a laugh. "I stayed there a long time. And the more far out there I took it, the more the audience loved it. I went, 'Wow.' Because they were either gonna be like ‘End it!’ or take a ride with you. And they were there for the ride, man. I think Gregg Rolie was falling asleep, like ‘When are we gonna get to the next song?’"

In short, Neal Schon's Journey Through Time is a bit of a different live-music experience than one would get from going to a normal Journey concert.

"That’s exciting to me because those are my roots," he says. "I’ve learned to taper back through the years and make hit records. But my roots, in the beginning, were all about just being on the fly, being able to improvise at any given moment and let it go, don’t be afraid of it because you’re just creating on the spot."

The set list is a mix of hits and songs from their earliest days, when he and Rolie founded Journey after leaving Santana together.

Will having the freedom to stretch out and explore this other side of his vocabulary make it hard to go back to the more hit-oriented Journey concerts?

"Not at all," he says. "Because we did play some hits on the three shows that Journey Through Time has done. But this is a different audience. They want to hear the older stuff. They were like ‘Yeah, I’ve heard "Don’t Stop Believin’,” I’ve heard "Any Way You Want It."'

He's pretty sure he's onto something here, Schon says. "Because I love both audiences and I know what they both expect now. I’m learning more and more about this JTT audience, that you can basically do anything you want but they don’t want just a hit song. So this is, for me, like the best of both worlds, having both bands."

The project began with a one-off performance in February 2018 at a concert the guitarist organized to benefit the victims of the California wildfires.

"It was just devastating," he says of the fires. "It seemed like it was never gonna stop and I felt terrible about it, seeing so many people that have everything. I wanted to do something bigger, but we couldn’t bring it together that fast. Everything had already been booked. So I decided to take it into the Independent in San Francisco, which holds probably close to 600 people, pull some old friends together, have some fun and raise some money."

The concert sold out in a matter of minutes.

"So that’s where it started," he says. "We got together, started playing all this older material. We learned 33 songs in about four days and then went and played, very organically. No frills, no killer lights, no screens, no backing tracks, no nothing."And the audience was definitely in their corner.

"People came in from all over the world to see it," he says. "So I go, 'Wow.' I didn’t have a clue that there would be so many older fans that really felt like they would never hear anything from our first three records. And it’s getting better every time we play. I’m looking forward to a full summer."

As Schon was preparing to launch the tour that brings his band to the Van Buren on Friday, he learned that he had to have emergency gall bladder surgery.

"I had a great doctor," he says. "And of course I had these shows coming up. He said ‘We’re gonna have to do surgery here.’ I said, ‘OK, well, I’ve got a few shows to play and I’ll be back after March.’ He goes, ‘No, you don’t understand.’ But luckily, I was in and out. He was able to do microscopic surgery. It didn't even leave a mark."

And best of all, he's feeling better than he has in years.

"I bounced right back," he says.

Within two weeks of having the surgery, he was on stage with Journey Through Time.

"People were dumbfounded," he says. "I was all over the stage, on top of the PA cabinets, twisting and turning and playing and really feeling good at the last show in Oakland. So I’m back. I feel good."

After playing two concerts this weekend with Journey Through Time, the guitarist is flying to Nashville to work on new music with producer Marti Frederiksen.

"We have four songs – amazing songs – right now," Schon says. "And they definitely have commercial viability. The story with him is gonna be a Chris Stapleton story because he’s written so many hits for Aerosmith, Foreigner and many, many others. And he has an amazing voice. The second I heard him sing, all the hair on my arms stood up."

They're doing a full album, Schon says, which he's hoping to record while Rolie is off touring with Ringo Starr.

He also has a solo album coming out in August. Titled "Universe," it was recorded with Narada Michael Walden.

"I’m gonna put another band together and go out with that while Gregg is busy and we have to put JTT on hold for a second," Schon says. "I’m gonna stay out there, man. I’m really having fun having my name out there. And I’m finding out that I have so many fans that want to hear so many facets of music that I’ve done throughout the years. And I’ve never really toured by myself with other great musicians."

As for what these solo projects mean for Journey, they'll be back before you know it.

"We’ve already committed to a tour in 2020 with some dates this year," Schon says. "We’re doing a residency in Vegas in October and we have a couple corporate shows and a couple other things before that. But the rest of the year is off."He's looking forward, in fact, to getting back to Journey when it's time to reconvene.

"I’m open to it all," he says. "There’s no reason to close down any bridges. Everybody’s put a lot of work and blood, sweat and tears into this for many, many years."

Among those open bridges is the one that leads to former Journey vocalist Steve Perry, although Schon says he's done making overtures to that effect.

"I’m gonna not say anything more about it," he says, with a laugh. "I’ve gone way out on a limb in so many different ways and all I can tell you is that he’s not contacted me to have that coffee yet. So I’m just gonna give it a rest."

Perry hasn’t sung with Journey since they went their separate ways in 1998. Last year, he returned with his first solo record since the '90s, "Traces."

"Did I listen to his record?" Schon says. "Yeah, I listened to his record. And I hear a lot of emotion in it. I understood where the record was coming from and I thought he sounded very good. I said, 'Well, if we ever got together, I definitely know where I’d go with him, in more of a blues and R&B thing.' But I’m just gonna leave it alone because it just seems like he wants to have his own time to do things and not have a bunch of people talking to him about ‘Are you gonna get together with Neal? Are you gonna do Journey?’ And all those answers are always, ‘No. No. No. No.” But then every once in a while, he says something that gives you the feeling that he’s open to it. But after a while, you just have to leave things alone and let them take their own course."

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Lora, there's a short video of Herbie talking with Neal and sitting next to Herbie on the couch, it looks like John Kalondar . Just wondering if it was him or not

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 10:11 am

by JourneyHard

tater1977 wrote:"I’m gonna not say anything more about it," he says, with a laugh. "I’ve gone way out on a limb in so many different ways and all I can tell you is that he’s not contacted me to have that coffee yet. So I’m just gonna give it a rest."

This is the correct attitude. Just be cool, man.

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:44 am

by The_Noble_Cause

Really excited about the prospect of new tunes. Rolie should be singing lead too, not just Deen. New Journey music is loooooong overdue.

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 1:36 am

by Eric

The_Noble_Cause wrote:Really excited about the prospect of new tunes. Rolie should be singing lead too, not just Deen. New Journey music is loooooong overdue.

It's been nearly as long since they had new music ('11-'19 going on '20) than they were "gone" ('87-'96). WOW

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:33 am

by Arkansas

I still think it's interesting why they're working in Nashville. Is Cain or Addiction Sound involved?

later~

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:03 pm

by JourneyHard

[quote="tater1977"]As for what these solo projects mean for Journey, they'll be back before you know it.

"We’ve already committed to a tour in 2020 with some dates this year," Schon says. [/quote ]

Journey should tour with Journey Through Time in 2020 instead of some other band. Think about it. Each can play 90 minutes. And we'd get three hours of Journey!

Journey Through Time: I'm Gonna Leave You, Look Into The Future, Lights, La Do Da, Dixie Highway, Of A Lifetime, Next, Feelin' That Way, Anytime, La Do Da, Walks Like A Lady, Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin', Wheel In The Sky, Any Way You Want It, Black Magic Woman

Journey: Separate Ways, Only The Young, Stone In Love, Ask The Lonely, Open Arms, Higher Place, Escape, Change For The Better, Be Good To Yourself, One More, Chain Reaction, Edge Of The Moment, Who's Cryin' Now, Chain Of Love, Faithfully, Don't Stop Believin'

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 5:23 am

by tater1977

Schon had Jason on stage with JTT. Jason works with Trev Lukather in ZFGand Trev has been dating Jon Cain's daughter, Madison.Journey's next new singer

..3 more clips from last night..singing Faithfully.. thank you @nealschon for having me up!..still on a high#journeythroughtime @deenjcastronovo #greggrolie @orpheumtheatrela #journey #faithfully

nealschonYes Jason I’ll look forward to this summer buddy

Nice voice, but not hearing much soul. Very pop...very Clay Aiken. Have Kevin Chalfant sing the stuff Deen won't. Personally, I have minimal interest in hearing this lineup playing ANY of Cain's wedding balladry.

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 7:48 am

by tater1977

Deen Castronovo @DeenTheDrummer

Next up on the Schedule... Nashville tomorrow with Neal, Marco and Marti laying down some new music, Then off to Italy for Revolution Saints #3 with @Douglas_Aldrich and #JackBlades, Then @TheDeadDaisies ! Busy but better than the Alternative #Sittingonmybuttgettingfat

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Dear Friends I’d like to thank you all for the overwhelming support to myself my and Journey Through Time - We are most definitely hitting your City this Summer Working on New Music to be released under my new label NealSchonMusicInc.

Re: Neal Schon on JTT : 'It's like the Dead on steroids'

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:10 am

by tater1977

NEAL SCHON MUSIC @NealSchonMusic

Just cut some amazing new tunes and very excited to put out before this summers tour for #journeythroughtime #nsjtt #nealschon #schön #tour #2019